November is Gratitude Month – Whats On Your List?

When you’re working on your goal of sober living, there’s one simple yet powerful thing you can do to help you overcome addiction. Practicing gratitude as a daily habit can go a long way toward helping you get through addiction recovery. With November being Gratitude Month, this is a perfect time to get started on forming this important habit while going through the 12 step recovery process.

What Does Gratitude Include?

Feeling grateful means that you recognize and truly appreciate what you have in life. Whether that’s close friendships with others or just being able to wake up to sunny skies most days, when you start focusing on gratitude, you’ll find plenty of things to be thankful for. Keep in mind that gratitude includes every part of your life, from small moments to entire aspects of it. You can express gratitude for the work you do, the hobbies you enjoy, the area you live in or the people you love. You can also be grateful for the little things in life, such as a cup of tea on a cold winter day or the smell of spring flowers.

How Does Gratitude Help Addiction Recovery?

Taking time to think about what you’re grateful for while going through a 12 step recovery program encourages your mind to focus on positive things rather than dwelling on negative thoughts. It also helps you become more mindful of how wonderful your life is, giving you hope for a full recovery in the near future. When you focus on being thankful each day, you’ll find that you experience less stress and more calm. Expressing gratitude puts you in a positive state of mind on a regular basis, which provides you with ongoing encouragement through the recovery process.

How Can You Show Gratitude?

There are several ways that you can express gratitude as you work toward sober living. Simple ways include waking up each morning and thinking of a few things that you’re grateful for before you start your day. You can write these down in a notebook or just acknowledge them in your head. From time to time, you can also show gratitude for others by doing something nice for them. This could be sending a card out of the blue, taking them out for lunch or offering to help them with something. As you go through your day, you can also make a habit of noticing and being thankful for the little moments in life.